Clark County has put a $10 million marker down for a possible new Insomniac venue in Las Vegas, but the money is not yet in play. The county commission unanimously earmarked the funding for redevelopment of the Sahara Event Center at 800 Liberace Avenue in the Commercial Center. The building is also known locally as the Ice Palace. The vote is a step toward a project, not approval of a finished venue or a confirmed opening date.
The central condition matters. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that the county money can be dispersed only after a formal agreement with the county's Redevelopment Agency. FOX5 Vegas likewise reports that any use or partnership still needs further agency approval. That leaves the plan in a holding pattern even after the commission's vote: a public allocation exists, while the agreement and the proposed use remain to be settled.
Commissioner Tick Segerblom said Insomniac, the company behind Las Vegas's Electric Daisy Carnival, plans to complete its purchase of the site and put another $20 million into renovation and rehabilitation. FOX5 quoted him describing Las Vegas as the company's home base and said Insomniac's plans were expected to go before county officials within two weeks. Those are the commissioner's descriptions of the proposal, not confirmation that a sale or construction has closed.
The location is part of a broader redevelopment effort around the Commercial Center. The Review-Journal says the commission previously gave consulting firm Gensler about $500,000 for proposals for the area, including renovation of the event center. It also reports that the Redevelopment Agency bought the neighboring New Orleans Square shopping center in 2024. Neither outlet reports a final programming plan, venue capacity or operating calendar for the rehabilitated building.
The plan has already drawn a clear split at county meetings. Residents from nearby communities and high-rises raised noise, traffic and Maryland Parkway congestion concerns, according to FOX5. The Review-Journal reported objections from the Las Vegas Country Club Estates Homeowners Association, whose homes sit close to the site, and from another nearby resident who called the proposal unsuitable for the neighborhood.
Supporters made the opposite case. FOX5 quoted Damian Costa of the Composers Room, a Commercial Center business, backing a bigger commitment to live entertainment in the district. Segerblom told the station the building has been zoned for live events since the 1960s and said any noise would have to meet county rules. That zoning history does not erase the concerns raised at the meeting, but it is part of the public record around the proposal.
For Insomniac, this is infrastructure news rather than a festival announcement. The company is linked to a potential permanent event site in the same market where it runs EDC, but the sources do not establish that the center will host EDC programming, become an exclusive Insomniac base or open on any particular timetable. They report an earmark, a proposed purchase-and-renovation path, and more approvals still to come.
The next meaningful test is the formal Redevelopment Agency agreement. Until that is in place, Clark County's $10 million remains earmarked rather than spent. Until Insomniac presents its plans, the public does not know the building's capacity, schedule or final use. What the commission has done is create a route for a redevelopment proposal that now has to face its remaining approvals and the neighborhood debate around it.
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